No Reservations
by Lilies in the Valley
Summary: Sakura Kinomoto has a great job, a fabulous flat in the city, and the perfect housemate. She thought she had everything in life. Oh, how wrong she was. Enter Syaoran Li...
1. One: New Chef in Town

**I just had to get this idea down and on the web. Expect this story to be much longer than My Fairy Tale, so there will be longer chapters. Read and review!**

**Oh yeah, NYPD is**** the New York Police Department and NYSE is the New York Stock Exchange.**** I just love those cool acronyms!**

**This ****disclaimer ****will cover ****the entire story****: I don't own CardCaptor Sakura or No Reservations**** (the movie).

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**No Reservations – Chapter ****1: ****New Chef in Town**

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

An annoying, shrill sound filled my eardrums.

"Grrr…" I growled as I groped my bedside table with one hand, hoping to get hold of the source of the noise. I buried my head even deeper under the covers.

"Aha!" My fingers found the snooze button and I turned off the alarm. It was quiet again, and I relaxed back into sleep.

But not for long. _Beep. Beep. Beep._

My second alarm was ringing now. This one was strategically placed (by me) on the top of the headboard, and I couldn't reach it without sitting up properly.

"Okay, okay, I'm waking up." I got up and turned off the alarm, glancing momentarily at the time. It was still only a quarter past seven, but there was no way I could sleep now. I put on my slippers and shuffled out of my room.

I'm Sakura, by the way. Sakura Kinomoto. I live all alone in a nice 2 bedroom condo in Manhattan. It gets lonely sometimes, but being in the middle of New York City really helps.

I showered quickly and was ready in less than twenty minutes. I wanted to be early for work this morning, so I could leave faster in the afternoon. I grabbed a strawberry muffin from the bread basket on the kitchen table as I left, swiping the key card in the slot in the door. Our condo building uses a very cool lock system. Basically, all you do is place a little tiny card in the scanner, and the door locks and opens itself. It's really fun to do, because you get to choose your own personalized tone which plays every time the door is unlocked.

But anyway, I picked up the newspaper from outside the door and made my way to the elevator.

'NEW YORK CITY PLACES SECOND ON THE LIST OF THE MOST HIGHLY POLLUTED CITIES IN THE UNITED STATES', the Times proclaimed.

I snorted through a bite of muffin. Well, it's a wonder that it wasn't first. There is so much smog during the summer, it's hard to see the sky. But it's September now, so it doesn't matter a lot.

I walked down the street to the subway station. There was already early morning traffic clogging the streets. I don't bother having a car in the middle of the city because, frankly, it's a waste of money buying gas. There's subways to everywhere in the metropolitan area, so there's no need for your own transportation.

The subway pulled onto the platform, and I boarded and took a seat next to the window. My ride is only five minutes, so I don't really mind wherever I sit.

I work in La Vie en Rose. The name means 'A Sweet Life', which doesn't make sense, but that's what they named it a hundred years ago, and that's what it still is today. It's an entire chain, with one bakery in each major city in the United States. Anyway, it's the top bakery in Manhattan (and all of New York City), and I am very proud to say that I am sous-chef. That basically means that I am second-in-charge when it comes to the cooking. Actually, I guess I am technically the first, because our executive chef, our _chef de cuisine_, retired two months ago, and no one has replaced him yet. So I'm in total control, practically. And I'm only twenty four years old! Yes, life is good.

I pulled my gaze away from the window as the subway stopped.

It felt good to be out in the fresh air again, though I suppose I shouldn't have worn a just-above-the-knee length skirt without tights. The breeze was slightly chilly, and I hugged my red sweater coat closer. Who knew it could be so cold in September? Luckily for me, the bakery is only a short way from the station. I was at the door within ten minutes, at exactly eight o'clock.

The warm air was scented slightly with the aroma of coffee and cinnamon. I walked into the lounge and took off my sweater, putting on a white chef coat instead.

Lilly, the assistant cook, was already firing up the ovens.

"Good morning, Sakura," she called in a sing-song voice.

"Why are you so happy?" I asked over my shoulder as I fixed my hair into a bun.

"Because it's Friday, silly!" Lilly came out, wiping her hands on her coat. "And, Mr. Rodgers just told me that we're getting a new employee today. Apparently, he's very talented. I just hope he's easy on the eyes!" Lilly giggled as she put out trays of biscuits, muffins, and small cakes in the window display.

Mr. Rodgers is the owner of the shop.

I rolled my eyes. "Lilly, aren't you already dating someone?"

She halted in her movements. "Oh, you're right! I completely forgot about Chris!" She resumed her task. "Oh well. At least we'll still have a hot co-worker."

"Yeah, sure." I started the first cash register. Sometimes, I'm on register duty if I don't have any special orders to work on. Lilly switched the door sign to 'open' and sat next to me on a stool.

"Do you know who's going to be our executive chef, Sakura? You've been getting an awful lot of work lately."

I looked at Lilly. "Well, I'm making a safe guess by saying it might be me. I mean, who else could it be?"

Lilly nodded. "Unless we get a new person. Mr. Rodgers didn't say anything about the new man being in charge, so I suppose it's not him."

The oven timer sounded from inside the kitchens.

"I'll be right back!" Lilly said, hopping off the stool. "I have to put that fresh batch of walnut bread in."

The first customer of the day came in and ordered a hot chocolate and one of our specialty chocolate-chip bagels. I fetched the coffee and put the bagel in a bag.

"That'll be three fifty-seven."

The lady dug a bill out of her pocketbook.

"And six forty three is your change. Have a good day," I smiled at the woman and handed her a handful of coins.

"Yes, thank you, you too." She hurried out of the door.

I shook my head. People were so busy in this city. They put work over priorities like family time. In a short while, the morning crowd of businesspeople started filing in and I didn't have much time to think about anything other than filling in the orders in record time. They were very demanding, these folks in Manhattan. Some took their food and headed to work, while others sat at the tables and ate peacefully.

The last customer in line came up and I couldn't help but grin when I saw who it was. He came here everyday and always bought the same thing. But I still haven't learned his name. For now, he'll just be Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome.

"Let me guess…you'll have a large hazelnut coffee and an orange scone,"

The man smiled. "Yes, thank you…" He bent down to read my name tag. "…Miss Sakura Kinomoto."

"No problem. I'll be right back." I started the coffee machine and set it to hazelnut. While it was brewing, I took an orange scone out of the display and wrapped it up in plastic. The money was on the counter when I came back. I put it in the register, and gave him his bag and his change.

"Thank you for buying. I hope you have a nice day."

He beamed. "Yes, you too, Miss Kinomoto." He started for the door, but I called him back. He turned.

"Oh, wait!" I smiled hesitatingly at him. "May I have your name?"

"Sure. I'm Ryu Akita. You might have heard of me before."

It took a moment for that to sink in. Right as he was stepping outside, realization dawned on me.

"You're the NYPD chief, aren't you?" I hollered.

"I see you have heard of me." He saluted me and left.

I sank onto Lilly's unoccupied stool. Who'd have known that this little bakery would sell to the rich and famous people? Maybe I should start dressing more nicely. I looked down at the collar of my pink Polo Ralph Lauren shirt and the bottom of my black satin Nanette Lepore short skirt. Not that I was dressing badly right now. Although maybe I should ask Mr. Rodgers to remove the white coat from our uniform. It covers the clothes that I work so hard to be able to buy.

That's a good idea. In fact, I should ask him as soon as I see him. He'd do it for me, wouldn't he? I've been working here for almost two years. So I'm a very valuable employee.

The bell on the door tinkled softly as a shivering brunette in a gorgeous black coat came in.

"Hi Bethie!" Bethie is our reserve. She comes in everyday and does whatever needs to be done. Sometimes she cooks, sometimes she's at register, and sometimes she just sits and watches the street outside.

"Hey Sakura." Bethie came in and took off her coat, hanging it in the closet in the employee's lounge. "How's business been?"

"Same as always. But today I found out the name for our Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome."

"Really?" Bethie sat in position in front of the second register. "Who is he?"

"Ryu Akita." I paused, waiting for her reaction.

Bethie furrowed her eyebrows and tapped her chin. "Hmmm…isn't he that person from the newspaper last week? He did something the other day. I think he killed a big mass murderer in a shootout. Got a lot of money and publicity for that, he did."

"Exactly." Well, actually, I didn't know that, but if Bethie says so, then I suppose she's right.

"That's so interesting." Bethie sighed. "I wish I knew him personally."

"You wish you knew who personally?" Lilly came out from the kitchen. Bethie scooted over in her seat and Lilly sat down next to her.

"Our mystery customer. Turns out he's actually Ryu Akita." I chipped in.

Lilly nodded. "I've heard of him. But I didn't expect him to come somewhere like here!"

I shrugged. "Maybe this place really is the best in Manhattan."

Bethie whistled. "Who would have imagined?"

Lilly and I nodded in agreement.

"Don't you think we should remove this stupid white coat from our uniform? It totally messes up my clothes." I voiced my earlier thoughts.

Lilly frowned. "I don't think Mr. Rodgers would let us. It's the only thing that actually shows we work here. Besides, we don't have to wear anything else, do we? I don't think it's such a good idea."

"Same here. I say ditch the whole thing. It's useless, because we know what the answer is already." Bethie was always the sensible one.

I slumped in disappointment. "Yeah, I guess you guys are right."

It was silent for a bit.

I started the conversation again. "Say, Bethie, where did you get your coat? It's fabulous,"

"I know!" Lilly exclaimed. "I've been looking for a black one like that for _ages_."

Bethie smiled. "I got it just yesterday from Saks. It's a Nicole Farhi original."

I wrinkled my nose thoughtfully. "Let's see…at $40 an hour, I make $320 a day, and $115,200 a year. So, I can spare about $2000 for coats. That means I can buy one really nice one with a matching hat and scarf set, or I can buy two not-really-that-great coats from a moderate brand. OR, I can get-"

"Yeah, Sakura, or you could get yourself a rich boyfriend who'd get you a thousand coats in the blink of an eye!" Lilly cut in.

Bethie giggled. "Don't we all wish for that, Lilly?"

I nodded. "What I would give to have a hot, rich, and yet _compassionate_ boyfriend. But the guys these days are only one of the three."

Lilly laughed. "You two seem to have pretty pathetic love lives recently. Meanwhile, I've got myself a nice enough man. Chris is awesome."

"That's you, Lilly." Bethie said simply.

Lilly started hotly. "Excuse me for-"

She was interrupted by a voice in the kitchen doorway.

"Good morning, Sakura, Lillian, Bethany. I'm so sorry to intrude." Mr. Rodgers addressed us three. I like Mr. Rodgers. He's the best manager in the world. But he was old, to say it plainly. He's the direct grandson of La Vie en Rose's founder, so it's pretty obvious that wouldn't be very young.

Bethie waved her hand loftily. "Oh no, carry on. We weren't doing anything important." That earned her a mega-glare from Lilly.

"I'm sure Lillian has informed you of the new addition to our staff." Mr. Rodgers continued.

I nodded dully. "She told us."

"Well, I'd like to introduce you to Syaoran Li. He'll be part of our team from now on. Syaoran, this is Sakura Kinomoto, Lillian Brown, and Bethany Sanders."

Someone stepped forward. "Hi. As Mr. Rodgers previously said, I'm Syaoran. It's a real great pleasure to meet you all."

At the sound of a deep, rich voice, I spun around at 90 miles per hour. My eyes landed on a tall chestnut-haired man with sparkling amber eyes and a _very_ cocky smile that looked like it was directed right at me.

Maybe it's just me, but I could swear I felt a spark between us.

Next to me, I heard Bethie say in a stage whisper, "I see your wish for a hot co-worker came true, Lilly. He's on fire!"

I scoffed and leaned over to them. "So he's got a pretty face. Doesn't mean anything."

Li grinned even wider. "You know, Miss Kinomoto, I can hear every word you're saying. And I assure you, I am more impressive than I seem. Even though me and my pretty face look very impressive to begin with."

I felt the heat go to my face. "We'll see about that," I muttered under my breath.

Mr. Rodgers was partly deaf (must come with being over 60), so he didn't hear me.

"Yes, Mr. Li here will be sous-chef. Same position as you, Sakura. Hopefully, within a few months, a chef de cuisine will shine through one of you. So work hard, and you might get a promotion!" Mr. Rodgers laughed at his own non-existent joke.

"Ahem." He cleared his throat. "Sakura, why don't you show Syaoran around for the day? Get him used to all the procedures, no?"

I bit back a scream of frustration and hid my aggravation behind a mask of amiability. "Uh, sure, Mr. Rodgers."

He beamed. "Wonderful! If you need me, you know where I'll be." He went back to his office.

Li smiled as well, although his was tainted with arrogance. "Shall we get started, then?"

I grumbled and crossed my arms. "Whatever."

Lilly tapped my shoulder. "You know, Sakura, _I_ could always _Syaoran_ a tour." I could tell she was dying to talk to him alone.

I was going to give her a sharp retort, but Li cut in.

"Oh, that's quite all right. I'm sure Sakura will be happy to show me around." He faced me. "Right, Sakura?"

I nodded. "I'll be **honored**." Sarcasm dripped from every word I spoke. 

Li chuckled and followed me into the kitchen, leaving behind a perplexed Lilly and Bethie.

"Here's the kitchen. Usually we get special orders around twice a day, so I'm pretty much always busy in here after 11 in the morning. Before that, I'm on register duty, and I suppose you will be too. But today's a Friday, so most likely we won't get any orders until Monday."

Li nodded attentively, with his confident smile still plastered on. I cringed inwardly. It was getting to me, especially the way his amber eyes seemed to bore deep into my very being…

I shook my head and broke out of my thoughts.

I headed across the store, walking quickly, my heels clacking loudly against the tiles. "This is the employee lounge. Truthfully, I don't know why we even have this besides as a place to keep our coats. We never get enough time to come here anyway."

"Okay." Li's eyes traveled along the lounge. "Is that all?"

I paused. "I think that's it. You saw the front area with all the tables, and I'm guessing you already know your way around a kitchen. Right?"

Li looked at me disbelievingly. "I didn't train in Paris for four years for nothing!"

I widened my eyes. "Four years? How old are you exactly?"

"Twenty-five. Although that's quite a personal question. You should be happy that I'm not offended or anything." He smirked teasingly.

I ignored the last part and gaped at Li. "You're only a year older than me, but you've done so much? God, how do you manage it all?"

He shrugged. "It's not really a big deal. It all worked out after I got my degree."

"Yeah right. Things in life don't 'just work out'." I leaned against the back of the door while Li plopped onto the armchair.

It was quiet.

"Sakura, are we going to be friends?" Li's mischievous smirk was back.

I evaded the question. "Who said you could call me Sakura, Li?"

He mock-gasped. "Sakura, I thought we had something going!" He put a hand to his heart. "That last comment hit me right there."

I rolled my eyes. "You wish we had something."

He laughed. I had to admit, his laugh was very nice. It was so rich, and deep, and warm…

Snap out of it, Sakura. He's a jerk, and you know it.

"I know that," I said unconsciously out loud.

Li raised his eyebrows. "You know what?"

"Ah, nothing. Never mind."

Li looked at me oddly. "If you say so."

I sighed wistfully as I glanced at my watch. It was only 11 o'clock. There were still five more hours until my day was done.

I walked back into the main area where Bethie was reading the newspaper and Lilly was texting someone using her cell phone.

I walked up behind Lilly and snatched the phone from her hand. She jumped in surprise and fruitlessly tried snatching it back from me. I pushed her arms away.

"I can't have you take this back before I'm done with it." I twirled in a circle and skipped over to Bethie.

"Let's see what Lilly's writing to someone!" I sang. Lilly moaned.

Bethie looked at me interestedly as I read aloud.

"Hi Chris, sweetie. Is our date still on for tonight? I can't wait! The Ritz is one of my favorite places ever!"

I frowned. "That wasn't interesting at all. Let me fix it."

I started typing a completely different message. Lilly, however, came and pulled it away forcefully.

"Sakura, stop messing around." She looked weary.

I slumped next to Bethie on her chair. "I'm so bored, though!"

Bethie pointed to Li through the glass partition. He was examining the kitchen carefully. "Why don't you go see what he's doing?"

I groaned. "No…not him."

Lilly looked up from her cell and watched me quizzically. "What's so bad about him? He hasn't even done anything yet."

I knotted my fingers together. "Well…" I dragged out the word, trying to stall for time. "Um, he's competing for the same position as me."

Lilly shrugged. "Doesn't mean you can't be friends. Or even acquaintances." She pressed 'enter' on her phone with a flourish and set it down.

I breathed out slowly. "Okay, fine, I'll go talk to him."

I was shuffling through the doorway half-heartedly when Mr. Rodgers' voice stopped me.

"Oh, Sakura! Wait a second, will you?"

I turned back around. "Yes, Mr. Rodgers?"

He walked up to me. "I have a favor to ask of you. Do you think you could spare a few hours?"

I smiled brightly. "Of course! What would you like me to do?"

Mr. Rodgers brought out a thick envelope. "See, over the past year, I've been depositing some of our profit into buying stocks in different companies. All the dividends from the stock have been going directly to La Vie en Rose's account in the federal bank. This," and here he waved the envelope, "is a record of every single share in every single company."

I nodded. "Okay, but what am I supposed to do with that?"

Mr. Rodgers continued. "I need you to go down to the NYSE on Wall Street and give this to our stock broker. He'll just look over the front pages briefly, and he'll give it back. As soon as that's done, I need you to go to the post office on 20th Street and mail this to our headquarters in Richmond. Got that?"

I nodded again to show I understood.

I glanced behind Mr. Rodgers' back and saw Lilly pointing frantically to herself and mouthing the words, 'take me too'.

"Uh, Mr. Rodgers?" I started. "The errand's going to take a long time, so maybe I can take someone with me? You know, to keep me company?"

"Sure." Mr. Rodgers replied. And before I could say anything, he gestured to Li in the kitchen. "Why don't you take Li? It'll give you some time to get to know each other better."

"Well, I was kind of thinking about taking Lil-" I got cut off by Mr. Rodgers again.

"Yes, isn't that a wonderful idea, Sakura?" Mr. Rodgers looked very proud of himself for thinking up such a great suggestion. He didn't wait for an answer.

"Li!" He called.

Li walked through the kitchen doors. "Yes, Mr. Rodgers?"

"Li, I'd like you to go with Sakura down to Wall Street to our stock broker and to the post office after that, okay?"

Li fidgeted. "Wouldn't it better if I stayed here and…got used to the setup of the kitchen and all?" So he didn't want to be out with me all alone, huh?

"Nonsense!" Mr. Rodgers waved his hand loftily. "You can do that next week. Besides, as soon as you're done with your job today, you can go home. So the faster you leave, the faster you can relax. So hurry up!"

Mr. Rodgers sauntered back to his office.

I sighed exasperatedly. "Shall we get started then?"

Li shrugged. "Whenever you're ready."

I fetched my coat from the lounge, and did Li a favor by throwing his in his face.

"Gee, thanks, Sakura."

I smiled sarcastically. "Any time!"

I put the manila envelope into my purse carefully and quickly buttoned up my sweater. "Let's go, Li."

I said good bye to Lilly and Bethie, and followed Li outside.

"Which way?" Li asked as we stepped onto the busy streets.

"Let's see…Wall Street is all the way at the southern tip of Manhattan, so I think it'll be best if we take the subway. If we walk, it should take over half and hour."

"If you say so." Li grabbed hold of my arm and pulled me through the crowds. I ran a couple of steps and caught up to him with a little difficulty.

"What are you doing?" I sputtered indignantly, looking pointedly at where he was holding tightly onto my hand.

"I'm making sure you don't get lost! Little girls need to be watched at all times." Li chided, pressing his hand on mine with even more force.

I scowled at him and tried to pull away, but his grip was like iron. So I loosened my arm and let him drag me along. Admittedly, people sent us odd looks as we passed, but I didn't quite mind.

Five minutes later, we were on the subway, on our way down to the NYSE. Li had let go of me and was now looking intently out the window into the blackness of the underground tunnel.

I tapped my foot impatiently. He looked so calm and at rest, it was annoying. I wanted to finish this job early and get back to my flat. It's a Friday, for hell's sake!

Out of pure boredom, I took out my cell phone and flipped it open.

"You have missed one call," the screen flashed.

With a short beep, the message began to play. I laughed inwardly as I realized it was Lilly, talking in a rush about how I was doing with Li, and how she would pay a fortune to be in my shoes right now. I deleted the message without a second thought and opened up my address book to see who I could possibly bother right now.

But before I even had a chance to read the first name, Li spoke up cheerily. He hopped into the vacant seat next to me and took something out of his pocket.

"Look!" He grinned. "We have the same phone! We're matching!" I rolled my eyes at his immaturity. But, lo and behold, he had an identical Nokia flip phone.

"Yeah, but see, mine is pink, Li. And yours is black. So they're not exactly the same. Or have you gone color blind?"

Li paid no attention to my comment. "Except mine is much nicer, Sakura." He sounded like a little boy boasting about his new toy.

I clicked my tongue. What did I do to deserve this? The two of us sat in silence for all of two minutes.

And then his cell rang.

I looked at the phone sitting in his palm, but that wasn't where the sound was coming from.

Okay, confusing.

"Shit. Which one is it?" Li shoved his phone into my hands and began emptying his coat pockets, putting everything into my lap. Out came a very nice-looking, expensive leather wallet, a key ring with about ten keys strung on it, a pager, a Blackberry, and finally another cell phone. This one was a silver slider phone.

I fumbled with all the items and managed to dump on another empty seat.

Li received the call and started talking professionally.

"Hello. Li Syaoran here."

I could only hear one side of the conversation, but it amused me to no end. It went along the lines of this:

"Oh hello Mother."

"No I'm not doing anything important."

"No, I don't want to go on a date with her tonight."

"I don't care if she comes from a great family!"

"So what? I'm still under thirty. Lots of people don't marry until they're ancient."

"Okay, so you and Father got married when you were twenty two, big deal."

"MOTHER! I am perfectly capable of finding myself someone nice. So stop calling me every week with some other stupid fake girl ready to go out with me."

In a huff, Li slid the phone shut and cursed under his breath. I tried to retain a giggle, but failed miserably.

"What?" Li snapped irritably.

"Your mom is trying to hook you up?" I broke into a laughing fit. "And she's bugging you to get married? Geez, she's pushy!"

Li's face softened a little as he raked his hand through his already-messy hair. "That's her all right."

I reached over and handed Li all his miscellaneous things.

"Thanks," he said as he put them back.

"Why do you have all that technology on you, anyway?" I asked.

"My sister runs our company for me out in Japan. But she doesn't know anything about business, so she's always after me, calling and texting and paging me with questions."

Li sighed deeply. "Maybe it should be better if I just moved back and ran it myself." He shrugged. "Though I never liked that stuff anyway."

I rested my head on my hands. "That's really interesting." I stopped to mull over the new information.

"Wait. Could your sister possibly be the CEO of Li Corp in Japan? FeiMei Li?"

Li looked at me sideways. "How'd you guess?"

I almost fell off the seat in surprise. "She is? God, she's all over the news all the time? How could you **not** want to have her position?"

He shrugged again. "It never really was my thing. I like cooking so much better. That's why I went to train in Paris."

I nodded slowly and examined Li from the corner of my eye. I ran up a mental list of pros and cons about him.

_Pros: He's gorgeous. He's funny. He's handsome. He's good at his job (he'll help me with work). He's attractive. He's nice when he wants to be. He's absolutely stunning._

_Cons: He usually doesn't want to be nice. He's good at his job (he might take the position of chef de cuisine)._

So the pros outnumbered the cons. Maybe he's not so bad after all.

The subway stopped at the last station, and Li and I headed out to the NYSE.

Li turned around to smirk confidently at me. "All right back there, Sakura?"

Or maybe he is.

I gnashed my teeth angrily.

Life has just gotten so much more complicated.

- -

_I know where I stand_

_I know who I am_

_I would never run away when life gets bad_

_It's everything I see_

_Every part of me_

_Gonna get what I deserve_

_I got nerve_

- -

**There you go! 13 pages! Tell me what you think. And the song is ****I Got Nerve**** by Miley Cyrus. It's the theme song for this story. ****You'll see it every chapter, so get used to it.**

**Love from **

**Audrey **


	2. Two: Darling Little Niece

**Wow, there was an unbelievable response to the last chapter. Thank you everyone! I hope I lived up to your expectations with this new installment! So enjoy.**

**No Reservations – Chapter 2: Darling Little Niece **

I slipped my keycard into the slot on the door and entered my flat to a welcome tone of an extract from Beethoven's 7th symphony. I smiled to myself. My best friend had picked it out the last time she was here. In fact, she should be coming today in a while.

But for now, I was alone.

I dropped my purse by the door and shrugged out of my sweater. It was evening, and I needed a cup of tea. One of the strong kinds.

Well, who wouldn't after a day of being around Syaoran Li? I turned on the kettle and leaned against the iron countertop, watching the steam billow out of the kettle hole.

Today we had both worked together to decorate a wedding cake for a _very_ rich entrepreneur's ceremony Monday. Lilly had baked the basic cake yesterday, but it was up to us two to figure out how to make the rest of it work.

The order asked for a five-tiered wedding cake with chocolate toffee fondant frosting and a border of white chocolate icing on the edges.

The wedding planner had also specifically stressed the part about lilies. There was supposed to be a design of lilies on the sides of the cake, done very beautifully in pink buttercream icing. Apparently, the bride's favorite flower was the lily, so it had to be _just right_.

Well, for the people making it, it was a royal pain in the neck.

So Li and I were brainstorming different ideas of how to make the lilies. Everything else was done, so we could take our time with the last bit.

I thought that we should draw the flowers freehand, and then fill them in completely with icing. Li, however, believed that it would be better if we quickly made a plastic stencil and traced the lilies onto the cake, and let them be without coloring them in. He said that it would look much nicer and more professional.

Obviously, it took us a long time to get anywhere. We actually tried a variety of things to each prove our point:

Li asked Mr. Rodgers and Bethie, and they took his side.

I begged Lilly to agree with me, and she did.

Li got an issue of 'American Cake Decorator' and showed me that 80 of the cakes with flowers didn't have them filled in.

I went on the internet and brought up a picture of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's wedding cake, and pointed out the fact that the two flowers on the top were indeed covered with frosting.

Finally, Bethie suggested that we call up the wedding planner and ask _her_ opinion.

She said yes to Li's idea. I argued the fact that the only reason she did that was because LI was speaking, and he probably enchanted her or something. Li further annoyed me by saying that she obviously couldn't resist his charms.

He ended up decorating the entire cake by himself because I felt that if I stayed one more second with that egotistic, self-centered, IDIOT…I would punch his handsome face in.

It's hard to believe we've known each other just over a year, and I still can't stand him. Well, I have justification.

He's Satan in disguise.

That about sums it up.

I moved the kettle off the stove as it whistled shrilly, pouring the brew into my favorite ceramic cup. It was a very special one-of-a-kind thing, with pink lilies on a white background and a gold rim. It has a matching saucer, and two other sets of cups and saucers. The other two are blue-and-white and green-and-white. They were my mother's special china, but she gave them to me since I coveted them so furiously.

Mr. Rodgers has completely forgotten the fact that one of us was supposed to land the position of head chef, and has kept us at our old level. It's not as bad as it would seem to me before, though. Li's funny a lot of times and it's often an enjoyable experience to have a real conversation with him.

I carefully wrapped up my hand around the cup and stepped outside onto the terrace. A chilling breeze swept my hair, but I just breathed in deeply. Sometimes I just need to relax and get away from it all to reflect on things.

I suppose it's one of those times.

I sipped my tea slowly and felt the warm liquid seep through my insides. As I inhaled again, the feeling was replaced by ice. I went back inside.

My time in the cold air had cleared my mind, and I realized that I knew next to nothing about Li, except a bit about his sister. And I really should, to understand him the best. I've been stepping along the wrong path all along.

I turned on my laptop and opened up an Internet browser window, briskly typing in 'Google'. My personalized home page came up. I laughed out loud as I saw my chosen theme: a little fox rowing across a pond to a tea house.

All games aside, I entered the search term 'Syaoran Li' into the keyword box. In less than two seconds, over one million results popped up onto the screen. I clicked on the first result…an article from Wikipedia.

Okay, so an online encyclopedia that _anyone_ can edit is not the best resource. But it's so easy to read! Stupid people like me need material practically spoon-fed to us. I have a short attention span!

Which is why I refer to places like Wikipedia for information on everything.

The first thing that caught my eye was his picture. That's definitely him. By now, I could tell his egotistical smirk from anywhere. I'd be surprised if I didn't know his face like the back of my hand by now.

Not that I stare at him or anything.

Although, sometimes it gets _hot_ inside the kitchen…

And it's not the temperature outside. And it's not the ovens.

I shook my head fiercely. I have got to stop thinking like that. He's my co-worker, he's annoying, he's infuriating, he…

Absolutely gorgeous.

Anyway. Back to work.

As I scrolled down the page, I became more and more dismayed. Apparently, not only was he supposed to be the CEO of Li Corp, he was also offered jobs in PR companies worldwide! And he's trained for his culinary degree in Paris, France; Florence, Italy; and Madrid, Spain. I slumped into my seat. He just had to shine at everything, didn't he?

In the references section, I found a link to an archived webpage from his high school's site. It was some place out in California. Malibu I'm pretty sure.

I visited it, and found old pictures of Li in a soccer uniform, holding up a trophy and being thumped on the back by teammates. Then there was another photo of him smiling widely with his arm around some pretty brunette's waist, and with the caption 'BEST COUPLE OF THE SENIOR YEAR' underneath. (She has great legs, I noticed resentfully.)

Why did I instantly take a dislike to her? I closed the Internet window in a flash and returned to the Wikipedia item. As I read some more about his various achievements, I drummed my fingers on the keyboard. He was quite the perfect guy, wasn't he? There was another aspect to his character that would bother me even more.

I broke out of my thoughts as my cell phone launched into its blaring ringtone. I looked at the screen: 'Panther calling'. I grinned and flipped it open.

"Hello, Sakura speaking. What's up, Panther?"

She spoke up from the other end. "Ugh, you have no idea how bad traffic is getting into New York! We've been stuck in the same mile for over forty minutes now!"

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. When will you get here?"

"Ummmm…I'd give it another half hour. You'll be ready, won't you?"

"Sure. Not like I'm doing anything else right now."

"Okay, great." Panther said. "Expect us around seven. Ciao!" I heard the distinct beep of the call ending over the line. I shut the phone and moved my laptop off my legs, leaving the Wikipedia website on.

"I'll read some more after a nap…" I trailed off as I stretched and headed into my room. Perhaps it'd be quieter inside, and I could catch up on some zzz's.

- -

_Bang. Bang. Bang._ There was a heavy knocking on the door. Then silence for all of three seconds. And then-

"OPEN UP SAKURA!" A shrill voice screamed from outside my front door.

I fell out of my bed in haste and looked fleetingly at my alarm clock. It was seven ten.

Oh god.

There was more thumping on the door and I grasped the handle and opened it ever so slowly.

"WE'VE BEEN WAITING OUT HERE FOR OVER FIVE MINUTES NOW! What were you doing, listening to your iPod at mega volume or something?" Panther screeched.

"Uh, it's wonderful to see you too, Tomoyo."

Tomoyo glared daggers at me. "Right back at you, _Panda_."

I flushed deeply as I opened the door fully. "I thought you forgot that stupid nickname in the eleventh grade," I mumbled.

Tomoyo grinned. "Nope. I never forget anything that precious, Sakura. Besides, it's not like I don't get annoyed with what you call me: Panther. Come on!" She strolled in and promptly took a seat on my armchair.

I leaned on the doorframe. "It was always so creepy how you were as quiet as a cat when you wanted to be. I still remember that time when we were twelve that you pounced on me from behind and I thought you were a murderer or something."

Tomoyo smirked wider. "God, the look on your face was priceless."

I jolted out of my reminiscing when someone tugged at the hem of my skirt.

"Hi Auntie Sakura!"

I grinned uncontrollably at the little girl's expectant face.

"Hey there, Madi!" I grabbed her hands and twirled her in a circle. She laughed innocently.

I set her back down. "It's lovely to see you again, sweetie. You're my darling little niece, so it's always a pleasure." I flashed her a thousand-watt smile.

Okay, technically, she's not my niece. She's just the daughter of my best friend. But Tomoyo and I are almost sisters, so it's the same difference really.

"Are you going to forget all about me?" Eriol said, stumbling in with about seven heavy suitcases.

"Of course not! I'm glad to have you here, too, Eriol." I hurried forward and relieved him of two of the cases.

"Thanks." He slumped against the wall. "My _considerate_ wife decided to abandon me with all this luggage to carry around." He glared daggers at Tomoyo.

She shrugged. "Hey, you're the manly husband here."

I took a seat on the arm of the loveseat. "How was your drive?"

Madi spoke up. "Oh, it was horrible. We were driving for five hours. Mommy wouldn't let me practice my violin at all. But before that, we went up to Daddy's office and his secretary lady gave me chocolate! And he had a really nice leather sofa up there! But he wouldn't let me jump on it because he said it cost a lot of money. I really wanted to, though."

I laughed. "Wow. That's too bad."

Eriol was the CEO of Sony's American branch, so I would expect nothing less than a posh office. I turned to Madi again.

"You've gotten quite tall now. How old are you, again?"

Madi straightened from her already-perfect posture and smiled proudly. "Six point seven five. It's my birthday in January!"

I felt my eyes widen. "I see you've learned decimals."

She waved her hand airily. "Oh, no, Auntie. I learned them three years ago. This was just a brush-up at my new school."

"That's right. You're going to some genius school now in Boston, right?"

Tomoyo started talking as she absently polished a nail on her cardigan. "Yes. It's the Mayview Academy, Boston Campus. It's only twenty minutes from Cambridge, so we don't have much to drive in the mornings."

I nodded. "It worked out nicely, I see."

There was silence for a minute.

"So when does your flight leave, Tomoyo?"

She looked up. "At nine from JFK. We'll leave in a little while."

"Right."

Tomoyo and Eriol were going off on a tour of Europe for their second honeymoon. I was going to take care of Madi for two months, until they came back.

"Why are you looking at a picture of Syaoran Li?" Tomoyo asked presently.

I rolled my eyes. "Researching my co-worker. He's been working alongside me in the restaurant for a year, but I don't know him too well."

"That's interesting. I'm quite familiar with Syaoran." Eriol said from his position on the floor.

"Yeah, well, by now, I _should_ be. It makes me sort of guilty, seeing as he takes such a big interest in my life."

I was going to continue, but I was cut off by a shrill vibrating noise.

"That would be my pager," Eriol stated as he took it off his waistband. He glanced momentarily at the flashing green screen.

"Tomoyo, our jet's been bumped up. We're leaving within the hour."

Panther got up and brushed off the bottom of her dress. "Oh, but I wanted to spend more time with Madi before we left. I guess it's too bad."

Madi ran up to her daddy and Eriol picked her up and hugged her tightly.

"Bye, honey. We'll be back at the beginning of December, so don't worry. And be good."

Tomoyo put her arms around Madi too. "Yes, especially that. Don't give Auntie Sakura any trouble."

Madi didn't say anything, with her head still buried in the crook of Eriol's neck.

"Madeleine Emily Hiiragizawa, do you hear me? Behave yourself."

"Yes, Mommy," came the response this time, albeit muffled.

The three stayed in a tight embrace until Eriol pulled away and reminded Tomoyo that it was time to go.

"Bye Mommy and Daddy. I love you," Madi said sweetly as she was put back down.

I was surprised that she wasn't taking this worse. I'd expect a child her age to be going into hysterics by now.

"I love you too, Madi. Bye Sakura! I've left all the details about Madi's school in her small blue bag. Remember to have fun, you two." Tomoyo headed out the door with Eriol's arm draped around her shoulder.

"Yes, you have fun yourself." I mumbled after them.

- -

We sat cross-legged on the floor, surrounded by piles and piles of clothes and shoes.

"Why do you have so many things, Madi? It's almost impossible to sort through this." I looked around at the hopeless mess.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

I laughed. "Why should you be? I was kidding. And it's not your fault anyway."

"Oh." Madi quieted.

I reached over to the box on the floor and took hold of another slice of pizza. Then I got up and finished hanging up all of her clothes, all in perfect form, in the closet.

As I stood back, I sighed in envy. Here was Madi, not even seven years old, but already she had a wardrobe full of designer clothes: Barney's and French Connection and DKNY.

And look at me! It took me years to finally be able to earn enough to buy such expensive clothes.

I pushed that thought away as I arranged her sock drawer. Madi sat on the bed and watched me attentively.

At last, I pushed the last suitcase under her bed, got up, and dusted my hands.

"There! Everything's in place!"

"Oh, gee, thanks a lot Auntie Sakura." Madi came up and gave me a hug around the waist (it was as far up as she could reach).

"No problem. What do you want to do now?"

She thought this over before bursting out, "Can we have a slumber party? Please? Mommy never lets me have one because she says it's disturbing to Daddy. So can we have one here?"

"Um, sure! I wouldn't want you to miss out on your childhood. Why don't we pick out a game to play?"

"Great! Wow, I'm so excited!" Madi bobbed out of the room.

I smiled. She was so bright and innocent.

Madi was sitting on my bed as I came in.

"I love your room, Auntie. It's so pretty!" She fingered the pink and white silk bedcovers.

"The whole set is a gift. The bedclothes, the curtains, the carpet, everything. It's from your mother, as a matter of fact. It was her 21st birthday gift to me. She's so thoughtful."

I disappeared into my huge closet and started rummaging through the rubble on the top shelf. A minute later, I came out with my old Monopoly set.

"Do you want to play this?" I waved the box.

"Okay. I love Monopoly." Madi swung her legs over the side of the bed. "Daddy always wins, though." She pouted adorably.

Grinning, I led the way back out into the living room. "Well, you never know. Today might be your lucky day."

Apparently, it wasn't. We finished Monopoly with me victorious, and moved on to Scrabble. It was by far more entertaining than Monopoly, due to the far lengths we went to in order to score the maximum amount.

Some words we dug up from the corners of our brains:

romaine

senator

trainee

isolate

reliant

beagle

glossy

chimes

shoals

zinnias

I was slightly taken aback at Madi's extensive vocabulary, but not for long. She told me that at her school, they played Scrabble regularly, and so she was used to coining up words from the farthest reaches of her memory.

It was just too bad that she lost at that too. And what was even more a shame was that it was only a margin of 7 points.

To cheer her up after that, I made us both ice cream sodas with Pepsi and vanilla ice cream. We drank them lying down on the floor, playing one last game: Sorry.

At this point, Madi's luck began to turn up. She picked up 11's and sorry's on the double. When she finally won, she took it calmly.

I will never completely understand that child.

After the games and the sodas, we sat down to watch a movie before turning in for the night. I handed Madi a bowl of popcorn and pressed the play button on the remote.

"What are we watching?" she asked.

"Enchanted. Have you seen it yet? It's such a charming movie. It's really very funny and all."

The opening scene began and we fell into companionable silence.

- -

Halfway through the movie, as we came to the part with the dance in the park, Madi suddenly spoke up.

"I have a question for you, Auntie." she began.

I paused the DVD and faced her. "Shoot. You have my full attention."

"Uhm…what's your Prince Charming going to be like? You know, Giselle keeps going on and on about her 'true love'. Do you have anyone that you believe will come and sweep you off your feet too?"

I furrowed my eyebrows. "That's quite a difficult question, Madi." I fidgeted with the bottom of my cami top before starting.

"Well…he would have to be good-looking as a first thing!" I grinned. "No way am I having an ugly boyfriend."

Madi giggled slightly.

"More importantly, he would have to be deep. I mean, not just a pretty face. He would have to really be interested in me and actually care about what I do. I would have to like every single thing about him, good or bad. He'll be bright and have a good job and be witty and funny. And he should be great with kids."

I sighed and let my tight bun loose. My hair cascaded down my back and halfway to my waist. I brushed it through carefully with my fingers while I thought some more.

"But most of all, he would have to love me with all of his heart. Not even a single thought of leaving me should cross his mind after we're together. That's my perfect guy." I smiled to myself. "And he'll be tall, and have the most captivating eyes in the world."

Madi looked at me thoughtfully. "That's kind of really a coincidence. I know one of Daddy's friends that's like that. I forget who he is, but he's very nice and extremely funny. He comes over a lot for dinner, once or twice a month, and brings Boston Crème Pie every time. He makes great food, but he lives really far away from Boston. In another big city."

She paused and began counting things off her fingers. "He plays the piano and the violin really well, and he helps me with them a lot of times. He read me all of _A Christmas Carol_ and _Great Expectations_ when he stayed with me last spring while Mommy and Daddy were in California."

She took a deep breath and stared calculatingly into space. "And his eyes look very incredible too. They're very warm and dazzling. Like _your_ eyes!" Madi grinned widely at me.

"Except his aren't green. They're soft brown. But they're brilliant and bright. And he has a good smile. If I remember, I'll tell you his name." She rounded off her entire speech with a smile.

I smiled back lightly. "That would be great, Madi. But how about you? Do you have some type of person in mind?"

Madi colored heavily. "Oh, well, I always dreamed of…" She stopped short and cleared her throat shyly.

"Go on," I encouraged her. "I told you, now you tell me."

"Yes, well, when I was four, I watched the Disney Princess movies a lot. You know, Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast?"

I nodded to show that I understood.

"Sleeping Beauty was my favorite. So I've wished, since I was little, that someone like Prince Philip could come and charm me, and we'd live happily ever after. It's kind of stupid, but it's still nice to know that I can wish for things like that. You probably don't get it. Most adults don't. Except Mommy. She says it's wonderful to have dreams and wishes like that, and I should enjoy childhood."

"No, no, I get it." I pulled Madi close and ran my hand through her long black hair. "And I'm sure that when you're older, some boy will come and make you feel as special as you really are. You can count on it."

She snuggled into my arms. "I hope so, Auntie."

She settled as I started the movie again.

- -

As the ending credits came on the screen, Madi pulled away from me.

"Oh, please, Auntie Sakura, can I play just one song on your piano before I sleep? Just one? Please?" She cast a hopeful look at me with her eyes.

I relented. "Okay, one song."

"Hooray!" She jumped off the sofa and padded to the grand piano in the living room. She shuffled through the large collection of music in the crate by the side of the piano.

"Here, this one is good." She set the box back down on the floor and arranged the piece before her.

"Come sit with me, Auntie." She gestured to the empty seat on the bench alongside her.

"All right." I sat down and peered at her choice.

"Silent Night." She murmured as she positioned her fingers. "I've only played it once before. I'm sure to make so many mistakes."

The lilting notes echoed out from the piano with a beautiful sound. I glanced at Madi. Her eyebrows were furrowed in concentration as she read the notes carefully.

The song started reaching its high point, and I found myself relaxing into the soft plush of the bench. Today has been so hectic, what with the wedding cake incident, and Madi's first night here.

Ah yes, the wedding cake.

I shut my eyes slowly and bid my mind to SHUT UP. I was just beginning to unwind, too.

Subconsciously, I wondered what happened to the wedding cake in the end. It probably doesn't look that bad, seeing as **someone who's name shall not be mentioned** is a great baker. I made a mental note to look at the cake Monday morning before it's shipped off to the Plaza Hotel for the wedding. Not that I don't trust him or anything…

Actually, yeah. That hit the nail on the head.

Madi finished up the song and bounced off the seat, taking a huge bow to an imaginary audience. I clapped loudly.

"That was great! I didn't hear any mistakes at all."

Madi looked at me with false innocence. "Was it good enough for an encore?"

I laughed. "Yes, it certainly would be, but not when it's past twelve thirty. Come on, now. It's bedtime. Tomorrow I'm taking you out."

"Great!" Madi ran down the hall and I followed.

She was in bed when I came in. I kissed her softly on the forehead.

"Good night, honey. I hope you have fantastic dreams tonight."

I bent down to the electrical outlet and plugged in the night light.

"This is here just in case you wake up in the middle of the night and need to get some water or something. It's a precaution to make sure you don't hit anything in the dark on your way out," I explained to Madi.

She nodded, and I walked out, shutting the door softly behind me.

But I couldn't sleep until much later. I guess Madi's question really got to me. I lay wide awake in bed.

What is my Prince Charming going to be like?

I pondered over that thought.

Yes, he would be everything that I told Madi: handsome, kind, funny, considerate, talented, and faithful. But there's also something else that I wanted, something specific, but I couldn't place my finger on it.

I turned over in bed, and burrowed deeper under the sheets. The question lingered in my mind, even though I tried to forget all about it.

But before I went to sleep, I saw a pair of intense eyes, painted a very deep color:

Amber.

- -

_I know where I stand_

_I know who I am _

_I would never run away when life gets bad_

_It's everything I see_

_Every part of me _

_Gonna get what I deserve_

_I got nerve _

- -

**This was mostly a filler chapter. However, we did introduce a new character. Madi will be around until the 10****th**** or so chapter, so get used to her. Also there's some important information half hidden in this chapter, and it will come back in future chapters.**

**Okay, I know Enchanted isn't out on DVD yet, but it was so fitting to the scene that I pretended it was, got it? **

**If some of you didn't catch it, the story's been speeded up to 1 year **_**after**_** the first chapter. The thing is, I really wanted to write Sakura and Syaoran's first meeting, and I absolutely detest flashbacks. So it worked out like this. Hope you caught on.**

**This is about the rate that I will update each time. It's impossible to come up with quick chapters on my tight schedule, so you'll have to make do with what I give you.**

**Love from **

**Audrey **


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